Washington Independent: Obama Launches Portal to Expose GOP Attacks

Washington Independent

Obama Launches Portal to Expose GOP Attacks

There’s a new meme in the presidential race: The Internet is helping expose dirty tricks, enhance campaign accountability and punish the purveyors of dog-whistle sleaze.

Such web luminaries as Arianna Huffington and Micah Sifry pushed that argument this week. The Obama campaign agrees.

On Friday, Sen. Baack Obama’s new-media office launched an initiative to identify and expose any last-minute, below-the-radar attacks on the Democratic presidential nominee. The web portal,Radar.BarackObama.com, tracks attacks and anonymous robocalls, and solicits reports from supporters around the country, “anchor[ing]” an “expansive campaign to push back on McCain’s unceasing negativity,” according to a campaign aide.  (The campaign is also touting offline pushback in key states, pointing to recent events in Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana and West Virginia.)

As it happens, TalkingPointsMemo, a site that has fused journalism and new-media activism, unveiled a similar map this week, titled “Flying Under The Radar: The Map of GOP Sleaze.”